To satisfy requirements concerning corner impacts, and in particular the requirements of the standard US 581, rear impact beams are known in the state of the art that are placed facing the rear bumper of the vehicle and that include, at each longitudinal end corresponding to a rear corner of the vehicle, an impact absorber made of foam, e.g. as described in document JP 9 039 694.
A vehicle provided with such a beam satisfies the requirements of standards concerning corner impact. Nevertheless, the inventors of the present invention have observed that the deformation of an absorber, in the event of a corner impact, leads to the entire beam being deformed, to such an extent that there may be damage to the elements that are situated on the beam for absorbing a rear impact (an impact in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle coming from behind and occurring at a speed of less than 16 km/h).
After a corner impact, a prior art beam is therefore no longer sufficiently effective in handling a subsequent corner impact.